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Unit 9: Collaborating on Project Management

Notes
Zoho Projects work on a subscription model, which offer a level of flexibility you
just can't find with traditional desktop software licensing. Project teams can scale up
and scale down their subscription as members join and leave the team. If you rely on
contractors and freelancers, you can set them up with a subscription and close it out
when their project work is complete.

Social media component: With social media becoming a growing element of project
team communications, it should be an integral feature in web-based project
management tools. I recommend looking for a web-based tool that has social media
components to augment team communication about project status and scheduling
matters. Developing an internal dialog about project scheduling and status is one of
the best ways to keep the project on track.

Online document storage and collaboration: Today's projects generate a lot of project
artifacts and documents. While it can be easy to let your project team stash documents
in their email inboxes and local hard drives, choosing a web-based project
management tool with its own document storage and collaboration features means
that project artifacts can be accessed easily and won't get lost.

Mobile client/accessibility: Considering a web-based project management tool that
has mobile accessibility or even its own mobile client means you and your team can
stay in touch with the project at all times.
Source: http://gigaom.com/2009/11/30/6-considerations-when-moving-to-a-web-based-project-
management-tool/

9.2.2 Good Project Management

IT projects generally have a poor reputation for delivery. However, all the short-listed schemes
were founded on sound organizational structures, with project boards, technical steering groups
and high levels of communication between the involved parties.
Some of the entries set themselves aggressive targets, with the understanding that the detailed
planning would probably result in longer timescales. In cases where projects ran into unexpected
changes or difficulties, the project was either halted, or the project manager felt that they had the
power to halt the program.

9.2.3 Risk Management

All the projects carried a risk register, but the judges noted that the status of risks was being
constantly monitored by the project team. In most cases, formal risk reviews were carried out at
frequent intervals – as short as a few days in some cases. As a result, there seemed to be few
surprises and the projects performed in a very predictable fashion.

9.2.4 Measurement as a Way of Life

The capture and measuring of metrics was carried out extensively by all the short-listed
candidates. A theme emerged which showed that the project managers were analysing
“in-flight” data to understand their performance.

Measurement extended to all areas, not just standard project control parameters. A considerable
amount of effort was put into understanding benefit metrics.

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